Thread by @ScottAWolfe

Centrafrique : le bitcoin devient monnaie officielle

A good and fair discussion (segment begins at 3:16 of video) about the Central African Republic's adoption of #Bitcoin as legal tender. A quick summary of key points, and some thoughts. 🧵

2/ First off, it's critical to hear from and elevate the voices of Africans -- both on the continent and from the disapora on these issues. So, I hope we see that front and centre. In this case, commentators from Togo which shares a similar colonial and colonial-monetary history.

3/ Some key points are raised. First the positive, and then questions/concerns:

✅ This is a bold move and embrace of innovation
✅ The legacy/impact of the colonial monetary system is a problem and needs to be addressed
✅A very promising opportunity for development

4/ The key questions/concerns:

❓Central African Republic may not have technical capacity to make good on #Bitcoin opportunity
❓If Nigeria, South Africa, et al haven't done this, why CAR?
❓Bitcoin is not a magic wand; challenges of growth & development are not simply monetary

5/ In 3 & 4 above, all valid and important points, IMHO. I think this is where the experience of #ElSlavador is going to be very informative and where the challenge has been identified for government and global partners.

6/ From my observation, what has been most inspiring about #Bitcoin adoption in #ElSalvador is that it is part of a much larger social & economic development agenda:

⬆️tourism
⬆️foreign investment
⬆️global remittances
⬆️physical infrastructure

These all re-enforce each other.

7/ As @nayibbukele @AsambleaSV have led this broader #Bitcoin social & economic agenda, a diverse range of private and NGO partners including @maxkeiser @stacyherbert @Excellion @GaloyMoney @paxful and many others have contributed to scale up, with @Bitcoinbeach as origin point.

8/ It would seem that Central African Republic does not benefit from a similar "origin point" for #Bitcoin scale up as #ElSalvador had, nor proximity to the large adopter base in the U.S., Canada, Central/South America that has supported scale up in El Salvador. That said...

9/ Central African Republic now benefits from the many lessons from #Bitcoin adoption in #ElSalvador and a growing chorus of organizations and companies that can help build out the Bitcoin economy, coupled with a wide range of adopters from the rest of the African continent.

10/ No, Nigeria and South Africa didn't adopt #Bitcoin first in Africa, but those jurisdictions have much larger & more entrenched capital and political systems to shift. Similarly, neither Brazil, Mexico nor Argentina was first to adopt Bitcoin in the region of the Americas.

11/ It will interesting to see how quickly global partners can deploy and cooperate w/ President @FA_Touadera's govt on dev'ment of strategy and tools to popularize #Bitcoin adoption in the country (incl internet access) and connect it to a broader social & economic dev'ment plan

12/ What has been remarkable to see with #ElSalvador is the significant degree to which #Bitcoin adoption has increased global awareness about the country and made it a destination. I am very hopeful that a similar spark is being lit for Central African Republic (and region).

13/ For now, I hope we will unite in sending best wishes and support to @FA_Touadera, government and people of the Central African Republic on this exciting, courageous and promising journey. It is one that is decades if not centuries overdue, made more possible by #Bitcoin.

14/ For further background, I highly recommend this article by @gladstein. And, a reminder of @Farida_N's powerful words recently that "#Bitcoin is the currency of de-colonization". May the fierce urgency of now propel this movement forward. [END]

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